Aug. 17, 2013

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Detroit Free Press Staff Writer

Emanuel Harris, 40, of Southfield gets a ride in Kristen Lingenfelter's Camaro Friday. Here, Lingenfelter gives a double thumbs-up to the convertible ahead of her, which was also in the event for catastrophic injury patients. / Photos by Brian Kaufman/Detroit Free Press

Brianna Vitale, 11, of Southgate gets a ride in Carol Posby's Camaro on Friday. Brianna suffered spinal cord injuries from an automobile accident when she was 3. Also pictured in the car are Brianna's mother, Laura Vitale, and her brother, Drew Vitale. / Brian Kaufman/Detroit Free Press

Emanuel Harris, 40, of Southfield sits near the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 that would be his ride on Friday. / Brian Kaufman/Detroit Free Press

For a dozen survivors of catastrophic accidents, the chance to leave their wheelchairs behind and ride on Woodward in flashy convertibles meant a very special Dream Cruise all their own.

“I’d like that silver one” — a late-model Chevrolet Camaro — “or that blue Mustang,” said Allan Floyd, 43, of Detroit, sitting in his wheelchair while organizers from the D-Man Foundation lined up a cruise seat for him at the Dream Ride event in Birmingham.

Floyd said he normally rides in his large motorized wheelchair secured in the back of a van.

“You really can’t see out much. Going in these convertibles is really a thrill. We can see everything!” he said.

The idea for dream cruises for people with severe spinal cord or brain injuries began with the founder of D-Man Foundation — Ziad Kassab, 30, of Rochester Hills.

Kassab is vice president of Rochester Hills-based Guardian Angel Home Health Care, which has 15 locations in six states, providing hospice, home health and patient-transport services.

“D-Man stands for Danny’s Miracle Angel Network,” he said. It is named after Kassab’s younger brother, Danny, who was paralyzed from the neck down at age 7 after the boy ran in front of a car. In memory of Danny, who died at age 23 in 2009, Ziad Kassab said he is determined to find ways to improve the quality of life for people with similar disabilities.

“I got to ride in a Camaro ZL1 last year. It was pretty awesome,” Thomas said, maneuvering his wheelchair up to the hot Plymouth by breathing puffs of air into a mouthpiece mounted on his $35,000 wheelchair.

Paralyzed by a gunshot during a 1997 party at his home, Thomas said, “I had to relearn how to breathe, how to speak.” A graphic design firm that he operates in partnership with Ziad Kassab designed the “Dreams Come True” T-shirts that Thomas and many others wore at Friday’s event, Thomas said.

“People in wheelchairs get so isolated. We need events like this,” he said.

Standing nearby was Shannon Higdon, outreach coordinator for the catastrophic injury program at the Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan in Detroit.

“When I told (one teenage patient) about these Dream Cruise rides, he said, ‘Wow, maybe a girl will look at me and not know I’m paralyzed,’ ” Higdon said.